Articulator



June 10, 1941.

H. HEILBORN ARTICULATOR Filed NOV. 26, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. l-lfF/M/W/ //[/1 B OR/V,

ATTORNEY.

June 10, 1941. H. HEILBORN ARTICULATOR Filed um 26, 1958 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 6

Fig. 8

. INVENTOR. HfK/flW/fi/gg ATTORNEY.

Patented June 10, 1941 UNHTED STATES FA'E'ENT @FFEQE ARTICULATOR Herman Heilborn, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application November 26, 1938, Serial No. 242,443

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an articulator, the lower jaw of which for good imitation of the masticating or chewing movement is movable along condylar tracks or guides of the upper jaw back and forth in straight central and in variably skewed position with tightly as well as with loosely or shakily adjusted guides, the path of movement being lcapable of being elongated tothe rear, and said tracks having an adjustable inclination.

The object of the invention is to obtain all these aims. by means of only one clamping screw for each track, which screw is mounted on the shaftlike guide bar of the stationary jaw.

Thereby extreme simplicity is obtained and dismantling facilitated. Furthermore the field of vision from the rear side of the articulator remains completely free and unobstructed, because all the otherwise unavoidable additional parts, spreader screw jacks etc. are eliminated.

I have shown a preferred form of articulator embodying my improvements in t e accompanying drawings, subject to modification within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention. In said drawmgs:

Fig. 1 is a top plan View of an assembled articulator embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 a side elevation of the articulator with only slightly inclined tracks;

Fig. 3 a fractional side elevation with more inclined tracks;

Fi 4 a plan View of the shaft like guide bar;

Fig. 5 a plan View of the guide bar in skewed or inclined position together with the adjacent parts, the guide being tightly adjusted;

Fig. 6 a plan view of the guide bar in straight unskewed position and of the adjacent parts, the guide being loosely adjusted and the guide bar being shifted to the right;

Fig. '7 a plan view on a larger scale of the guide bar in straight unskewed position and of the adjacent parts, the guide being tightly adjusted;

Fig. 8 a plan view similar to Fig. guide fbeing loosely adjusted;

Fig. 9 a side elevation of a condyla-r guide on a larger scale.

The upper jaw l corresponding to the upper jaw of a human skull is rigidly connected or integral with the U-shaped shaft like guide bar 2. The guide bar supports at each side a condylar track body 3, having a stud I5 adjustable angularly and longitudinally in a bore 13 of the shank 2A of the guide bar 2. A clamp screw 14 having a knurled head 5 engages into a screwed bore ltA of the stud l5 (Fig. 8) and clamps the track 3 in the adjusted position by means of the intermediate member or clamping saddle 4 having I, but the a concave seating surface conformed to the periphery of the shank 2A.

The screw I l engages through a slot it of the shank 2A with play in longitudinal as well as in peripheral direction of the guide bar 2 (Figs. 4, 7, 8)

After the screw it has been loosened the track 3 can be swung from the only slightly inclined position of Fig. 2 into the steeply inclined position of Fig. 3 or into any intermediate position, and furthermore can be shifted from the'outward position of Fig. 7 into the inward position of Fig. 8, whereupon the screw it is tightened again. The knurled head 5 can be used as a handle in these adjustments. The inward adjustment of the track 3 is resisted by a compression spring i! which, after the screw it has been loosened, immediately shifts the track from the position of Fig. 8 into the position of Fig. 7.

The track 3 has a guide slot ll, the rear wall [2A of which is outwardly inclined so that the slot increases in length outwardly (Figs. 7 and 8). Also the front wall [2 of the slot ii may be inclined. This, however, is not essential.

In the slot H is guided a stud it of a screw l3 which is screwed into an ear 6 of the lower jaw of the articulator and has a knurled head 1. The stud [6 forms a condylar fulcrum.

The lower jaw which corresponds to the lower jaw of a human skull consists of the lower web 8 of a form corresponding to the part i and of the U-shaped stand 20 integrally lconnected together. The cars 6 are the upper ends of the stand 20.

Leaf springs [9 are secured by screws 21, abut with their lower ends I9A against the shanks of the stand and tend to urge the upper jaw l, 2 forward towards the normal position or position of rest. The action of these springs can be eliminated by swinging them downwardly around the screws 2?.

To the lower jaw is secured the known device 23, 24, 25, and to the upper jaw the known device IA, 25, 26A, 21, 23, which known devices need not be described here.

The articulator may be swung open e. g. by swinging the upper jaw into the dotted position of Fig. 2.

M ethocl of operation First may be considered the adjustment of the parts as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. In this adjustment the tracks 3 are in their extreme outward position, in which the convex exterior front surfaces of said tracks are in tightly fitting engagement with the interior front surfaces of the ears 6. With this adjustment the movable jaw 8, 20 in straight central position (Fig. 1) can be reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the part I, in which movement the studs it slide along the lateral walls of the slots H. The exterior front surfaces of the tracks are guided tightly between the interior front surfaces of the ears 6 and the action of the springs l! is eliminated by the tightened screws l4 so that any lateral play and thereby any loose movement in the longitudinal direction of the shanks 2A of the guide bar 2 and the corresponding possibility of faulty attachment of the models to the articulator is excluded.

With the described adjustment of the parts the movable jaw 8, 26 can also be skewed i. e. swung to an oblique position relative to the stand 20 and the ears 6 (Fig. With this skewing can be combined a reciprocation as above described.

The same screw 14 which, as above described, is used for adjusting the inclination of the track 3 is used in accordance with this invention also for making possible some lateral mobility of the jaw 8, 28 in the direction of the shanks 2A for obtaining the well known loose movement.

For this purpose the screw I4 is loosened and is shifted from the position shown in Fig, '7, in

which said screw abuts against the right end of the slot Hi, to the left into the position shown in Fig. 8, in which said screw abuts against the left end of said slot, whereupon said screw is tightened again.

By the described leftward shifting of the screw M the spring I7 is compressed, and the track 3 is shifted from the position shown in Fig. 7 to the left into the position shown in Fig. 8 whereby the distance of the front surface of the stud l6 surface of the other track 3 and the ear 00- operating with this latter track. With this loose adjustment of the guide as well as the first described simple reciprocation as the skewing shown in Fig. 5 can be performed.

By the described inward (to the left adjustment of the screw l4 and track 3 the end of the stud !6, because of the inclination of the rear wall I 2A of the slot H, is brought into a in Fig. 7) 1 longer part of the slot H as may be seen again from a comparison of Figs. '7 and 8, so that the path of the jaw 8, 20 is correspondingly extended at the rear end.

The just described lateral shifting of the screw l4 therefore again serves two purposes simultaneously namely first for obtaining the laterally shaky movement, and secondly for extending the backward movement. This simultaneous double change is very important corresponding to the well known phenomena in mastication.

If, as necessary, at the beginning of the work the screw M is loosened for making possible the adjustment of the inclination of the track 3 the spring I! at once shifts the track 3 from the inward position of Fig. 8 towards the outward position of Fig. '7 so that in a very desirable manner an initial operation with tightly adjusted guides is secure without need for any special attention in this respect.

It is important to known that for all the described adjustments only the screws M are used. The screws l3 are not used for adjustments, and are only loosened for the purpose of separating the jaws.

All this results in an extremely simple structure and in the advantages described in the first part of the specification.

It has been explained above that in the new articulator all spring action can be eliminated during the precisely guided as well as during the "loose movements. This enables the skilled operator to make the best possible use of his fine fingertip feeling which would be impaired by spring resistance.

What I claim is:

1. An articulator comprising, in combination, two jaws adapted to selective adjustment for two kinds of relative reciprocation, longitudinal reciprocation alone and longitudinal reciprocation combined with transversal reciprocation, condylar fulcrums secured to one of said jaws, condylar guides secured to the other of said jaws at regulable distance in gaps, between said jaws, wider than the thickness of said guides, means for limiting the longitudinal reciprocation to a definite normal length, and means for adjusting the inclination of said guides, said same last mentioned means being adapted to simultaneously adjust the articulator for either of said two kinds of reciprocation, and to automatically lengthen backward the path of longitudinal reciprocation beyond said normal length simultaneously with the adjustment of the articulator for transversal reciprocation and for thereby obtaining, in addition to the tightly guided movement, the possibility of a loose free movement in all directions of the plane of mastication with, including the backward direction, all inclinations of said plane.

2. An articulator as claimed in claim 1, in which the means for adjusting th inclination of said guides are adapted to also adjust the distance between said guides, and in which at least one end of said guides is tapered for the purpose of said automatic lengthening.

3. An articulator as in claim 1, the main body of one of the jaws having the form of an open U, consisting of two substantially vertical posts, connected only at their lower ends, the main body of the other jaw having the form of a relatively thin shaft bridging the U near the upper end thereof, leaf springs, adapted to restore the normal position of the jaws, being provided, said fulcruins and said leaf springs being mounted on said posts near the upper end thereof, said leaf springs overlapping considerably and being thereby hidden behind the rear faces of said posts, said guides being mounted at the ends of said shaft, a tapered wall being provided at least at one end of said guides, studs of said guides, entering axial holes of said shaft, being adapted to be adjusted therein longitudinally as well as peripherally, spring means being located in said holes, and for each stud being provided a single screw, adapted simultaneously to fix the longitudinal as well as the peripheral adjustment of said stud, and to eliminate the action of said spring means during any relative reciprocation of said jaws.

HERMAN HEILBORN. 

